Adenine nucleotide degradation in ischemic rabbit lung tissue.

The aim of the study was to determine the pathways and site of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) catabolism during lung ischemia, which thus far are largely unknown. For this purpose we used the isolated rabbit lung. Rabbit lungs were flushed in situ with a modified Krebs-Henseleit solution (60 ml/kg), the deflated heart lung blocks were isolated, immersed in saline solution, and stored at 37 degrees C. In group I (normothermic ischemia; n = 6) tissue content of ATP decreased progressively from 9.42 +/- 0.58 mumol/g dry wt to 3.42 +/- 0.24 mumol/g dry wt after 30 min of ischemia and further to 0.51 mumol/g dry weight after 4 h. Hypoxanthine was the major catabolite (92% of the nucleoside and purine base fraction at 4 h ischemia). Adenosine did not accumulate (preischemic 0.08 +/- 0.02 mumol/g dry weight vs. 0.13 +/- 0.01 mumol/g dry weight; P > 0.05). AMP accumulated, but also inosine monophosphate (IMP), which was undetectable before ischemia, increased significantly during ischemia. To determine the breakdown pathway of AMP, 400 microM of the adenosine deaminase inhibitor EHNA was added to the flush solution in group II (n = 6). During ischemia, ATP breakdown was unaltered but adenosine became the major catabolite (2.8 times the concentration of hypoxanthine at 4 h ischemia). By pretreatment of the rabbits with the nucleoside transport inhibitor R 75231 (group III; n = 6) no effect was observed on the concentrations during ischemia of inosine and hypoxanthine and only a minor increase of adenosine was found. Cytochemical localization of nucleoside phosphorylase revealed activity predominantly in the endothelial cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Interleukin-1 beta induces synthesis and secretion of interleukin-6 in human chondrocytes.

Increased concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6) have been found in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and crystal-related joint diseases. It is therefore of great interest to identify the cells responsible for the production of IL-6, and to investigate whether IL-6 plays a role in the pathogenesis of degenerative or inflammatory joint diseases. Here we show that human interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) induces IL-6 synthesis and secretion in differentiated human chondrocytes. In organ cultures resembling closely the in vivo system 10(6) chondrocytes incubated with 100 units of interleukin-1 beta per ml of medium led to the release of 6 X 10(3) units of IL-6 within 24 h. Chondrocytes cultured in agarose or as monolayers similarly incubated with IL-1 beta produced even higher amounts of IL-6: 70 X 10(3) units per 10(6) cells within 24 h. The induction of IL-6 synthesis by IL-1 beta was also shown at the mRNA level. IL-6 secreted by stimulated chondrocytes showed heterogeneity upon Western blot analysis.

Ochronosis and alkaptonuria: report of a new case with calcified aortic valve stenosis.

A patient with calcified aortic valve disease secondary to ochronosis and alkaptonuria is presented. Urgent aortic valve replacement was necessary. The cardiovascular complications of this disease are reviewed.

Influence of practice on the biochemical analysis of steroid receptors in human breast cancer.

The value of experience and practice in the routine biochemical analysis of steroid receptors was studied in 2576 different primary breast cancer specimens over five consecutive years. The positivity rate (beyond 3 fm/protein) and the measured concentrations of the steroid receptors increase. The positivity rate and average steroid receptor concentration of the samples immediately frozen is significantly higher compared to the overall sample population. It is concluded that the handling of the specimen before freezing and the experience of the technician play an important role in the routine biochemical analysis of steroid receptors.

Computed tomography and lymphography in the presurgical staging of early carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

The value of bipedal lymphography and computed tomography (CT) in the presurgical staging of early carcinoma of the uterine cervix was analysed in 62 patients by histologic examination of pelvic lymph nodes and parametrial extension at the time of surgery. Macroscopic invasion of the lymph nodes was detected in 33% of the patients by CT and in 17% by lymphography. Microscopic invasion was suspected in 9% by CT scan and in 38% by lymphography. Physical examination with measurement of the tumor diameter was more predictive for regional extension of the disease as compared to lymphography and CT. CT may detect subclinical parametrial invasion but overestimation of the extent of the disease is common. Bipedal lymphography and CT add only limited information to the routine presurgical staging of cancer of the uterine cervix.

High-resolution real-time sonography of the adrenal glands: a routine examination?

The feasibility of imaging the adrenal glands during routine upper abdominal examinations was studied for 100 consecutive patients, 47 males and 53 females. The mean patient age was 46 years and the mean weight 63 kg. The suprarenal areas were scanned in a slightly oblique frontal plane through the intercostal spaces with the patient recumbent. The right adrenal gland was detected in 92 per cent of the patients, with a mean examination time of less than one minute. Visualization of the left adrenal gland was more difficult and was successful in only 71 per cent, even where additional views in the right lateral decubitus or erect position were added. The mean examination time on the left was 2 1/2 minutes. Complete visualization of the adrenal gland is impossible in one single plane because of the complex shape of the organ, which necessitates multiple contiguous scan planes. In 13 per cent of the visualized adrenals, cortex and medulla could be differentiated.

"Skip areas" in hepatic steatosis: a sonographic-angiographic study.

"Skip areas" in focal steatosis describes a newly proposed "subsegmental type" of focal steatosis, which differs in both extent and topography from the more classic "lobar or segmental type" of focal steatosis. In the subsegmental type of steatosis, fatty infiltration can be considered homogeneous throughout the liver, with the exception of small flattened portions of less affected parenchyma, called "skip areas." These regions are mainly located in the subcapsular areas or along the interlobar fissures or the gallbladder bed. Observations using ultrasound in vivo, as well as on postmortem in vitro angiograms, suggest that both the extent and topography of these skip areas can be explained by local differences in vascular anatomy.

Sclerosing peritonitis with mural bowel fibrosis in a patient on long-term CAPD.

A 66 year old white woman developed an incomplete small-bowel obstruction after 3 years of CAPD with lactate containing solutions. There were six episodes of peritonitis. The bowel obstruction was not due to a "sclerosing obstructive" (encapsulating) peritonitis but to a diffuse sclerosis of the serosal membranes extending into the muscle layers of the small and large bowels ("mural fibrosis"). This picture may be just one other expression of a spectrum of structural changes resulting from long-term chronic irritation of the abdominal cavity.

Effects of cortisol on tRNA methylase activities in rat mammary carcinoma.

Mammary carcinomas induced in rats by DMBA were divided into three types: I, hard proliferating tumors; II, tumors presenting from an early stage the first signs of cystic degeneration; III, lactating tumors. In all three types, cortisol reduced the protein content by 26%-30%. The already high tRNA methyltransferase activity in type I increased by 200% after cortisol treatment. Hormonal treatment of type II increased the previously reduced control methyltransferases by 37%. In the type III lactating tumors, the total tRNA methyltransferases were inhibited by 35% after cortisol treatment. The methyltransferases of types I and II were separated chromatographically into seven analogous peaks, while the enzymes from type III presented a modified pattern. In each case, cortisol treatment affected the activities of several methyltransferases simultaneously without obvious specificity.

Effects of ionizing irradiation on the estradiol and progesterone receptors in rat mammary tumors.

The determination of estradiol and progesterone receptor concentrations in mammary tumors is useful in predicting the hormone responsiveness. As this assay is carried out on tumor tissue which may have been subjected to radiotherapy, the possibility of an ionizing irradiation affecting the steroid receptor levels in neoplastic tissue should be taken into account. The steroid receptor concentrations are examined in dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced tumors of Sprague-Dawley rats. The estradiol and the progesterone receptor titers become reduced significantly after treatment with 20 Gray while an application with 7 Gray does not affect the titer values. After treatment of the tumor with 20 Gray, the steroid receptor concentrations decrease progressively, reaching a maximal reduction 20 to 30 days after exposure. This measured reduction in binding sites seems to be the result of a specific irradiation effect and not due to a possible increase in lytic enzyme levels in the regressing tumors. As radiation treatment affects the receptor concentrations, this should be kept in mind when interpreting the steroid receptor concentrations.

Cardiovascular malformations in DiGeorge syndrome (congenital absence of hypoplasia of the thymus).

Partial or complete absence of the thymus (DiGeorge syndrome, III-IV pharyngeal pouch syndrome) is often associated with agenesis or hypoplasia of the parathyroid glands and, almost invariably, with cardiovascular malformations. The clinical and pathologcial findings in 10 cases proven at necropsy are presented. All patients presented with cardiac symptoms and signs in the first weeks of life and, with one exception, all died of a cardiac cause. Major cardiovascular malformations were found in all 10 cases. Four had, in association with a ventricular septal defect of the infundibular type, an interrupted aortic arch, which was left-sided in two and right-sided in two other cases. Four patients had truncus arteriosus type I, in two of them associated with a right-sided aortic arch. Two patients with tetralogy of Fallot had a right-sided aortic arch. Only two of the 10 had a normally developed left aortic arch. Aberrant subclavian arteries were found in five cases. From our observations and a survey of the previously published patients it appears that 90 per cent of the necropsy-proven cases of DiGeorge syndrome have cardiovascular malformations and that 95 per cent of these malformations can be classified as aortic arch anomalies, truncus ateriosus, or tetralogy of Fallot.